The Saudi Pro League's summer window opened this week with money moving across the division, except at the one club that just won it. Al-Nassr, champions on the final day of last season, find themselves unable to spend, with reports pointing to a liquidity squeeze that has left several first-team players waiting on part of their June wages. It is an odd position for a reigning title-holder to be in just as rivals go shopping.
The reporting, led by Saudi outlet Al-Riyadiyah, describes a club whose day-to-day operations have been strained by a cash-flow shortage during pre-season. Several senior players are said to have received only partial June salaries, and all recruitment has reportedly been frozen while the club works to clear the backlog. Al-Nassr have not issued any public statement on the matter. The situation has fed into wider debate about the sustainability of Saudi football's spending model, a topic that inevitably circles back to the project's most famous face; even discussions around Cristiano Ronaldo, such as this piece on cancelo defends ronaldo neymar world cup criticism, show how closely his standing is tied to the club's broader narrative.
A Costly Gap in Midfield
The timing is awkward. The transfer window runs until 7 September, and Al-Nassr have already lost a key figure without any sign of a replacement. Marcelo Brozovic departed as a free agent earlier this month, the club confirming his exit after three years and 99 appearances since arriving from Inter in 2023. Losing a player of his profile in the middle of the pitch would sting any squad; doing so with no funds to reinforce the position makes it considerably harder to absorb.
For a team that won the league but had to fight for it, standing still carries real risk. Rivals are actively strengthening. Al-Hilal, for instance, have been linked with West Ham's Crysencio Summerville among other targets, underlining how competitive the market has become. A title defence rarely gets easier when the champions cannot add to what they already have, and in this case they are working with less, not more.
Postecoglou's Awkward Start
The man tasked with making sense of it all is Ange Postecoglou, appointed on a two-year deal at the start of July. It was already a bold appointment. The Australian won the Europa League with Tottenham in 2025, only to be sacked 16 days later following a 17th-place Premier League finish, then lasted just 39 days at Nottingham Forest without a win. Al-Nassr offered him a fresh start with the reigning Saudi champions, a chance to rebuild his reputation at a club with genuine ambition.
What he did not sign up for was a pre-season without new signings. Postecoglou must prepare a squad for five competitions, the Saudi Pro League, the King's Cup, the Saudi Super Cup, the AFC Champions League Elite and the Arab Club Champions Cup, using largely the players he inherited, minus Brozovic. Any coach facing that workload would want fresh legs and tactical options. Instead, he may have to open the season working with what is already on the books.
Ronaldo Still the Centrepiece
At the heart of the project, as always, is Cristiano Ronaldo. At 41, he remains the figurehead who helped draw the investment that built Al-Nassr's current squad. Joao Felix and Sadio Mane are among those staying put, so the group is far from threadbare. But a club built on heavy spending suddenly finding the taps shut raises legitimate questions about how the model holds up under pressure, particularly with new Saudi financial regulations introduced at the start of July aimed at tightening oversight across the league.
The hope inside Al-Nassr will be that this proves a short-term cash-flow issue rather than a structural one, and that outstanding wages are settled soon enough for the club to re-enter the market before the window closes. Until then, the strangest sight of the Saudi summer remains the same: the team that finished on top, watching everyone else do the spending.
